Vandenberg Space Force Base: The Western Range
On California's Central Coast above Lompoc, Vandenberg Space Force Base runs the Western Range, the launch complex Space Launch Delta 30 uses to put satellites into polar orbit for SpaceX, ULA, and the national reconnaissance fleet, and to fly the Minuteman III test launches that prove the land-based deterrent. It is one of the largest installations in the Space Force, a mix of Guardians, Airmen, and a big contractor workforce, set in cool, foggy coastal hills and Santa Rita Hills wine country, with Santa Barbara about an hour southeast and California's cost of living all around. The people here know an allegation can freeze a career long before any verdict.
Military defense is all Bilecki Law Group does, and members fly us in from around the world because a contested court martial is decided by trial experience, not by which lawyer is nearest the gate. For a Guardian on the launch mission, getting your own counsel early is what protects the career.
The Pilot Who Held the Lead Through the Fire
Vandenberg has no Medal of Honor of its own, so the standard here is set by one of California's own, Major Ralph Cheli, a San Francisco native leading a low-level strike on the Dagua airfield in New Guinea on August 18, 1943. With his aircraft set ablaze two miles short of the target, Cheli held the lead through the bombing run rather than pull up and scatter the formation behind him, handed off the lead only after the attack, and went down into the sea. He kept the mission together at the cost of himself. That refusal to break formation is the standard we bring to a case at Vandenberg.
Why Guardians at Vandenberg Bring Us In
We win court martial cases. Military defense is all we do, and members fly us in from all over the country because of our trial record. The military justice system is not built to find the truth; it exists to preserve good order and discipline, and a launch installation will make an example of a member to protect its mission. A serious case is investigated by the Office of Special Investigations, and for sexual assault and other covered offenses the decision to refer charges to a court martial no longer belongs to your command but goes to an independent Special Trial Counsel. The Area Defense Counsel may be capable but carries a heavy caseload inside the same system, which is why members serious about winning bring in their own counsel.
UCMJ Charges We Defend at Vandenberg Space Force Base
The charges below are where most Vandenberg cases start, not where our defense ends. Whatever you are facing under the UCMJ, we take it.
Sexual Assault and Sex Offenses (UCMJ Article 120 / Article 134). These allegations route to an independent Special Trial Counsel now, and the command treats a report as established before the investigation is finished. A conviction can mean confinement and a federal record, with registration required for a covered sex offense under the applicable federal and state law. These cases demand counsel who will run an independent investigation and contest the case rather than let the allegation stand in for proof.
Domestic Violence and Assault (UCMJ Articles 128b and 128). Domestic violence under Article 128b is charged as aggressively as any offense in the UCMJ since the Office of Special Trial Counsel took these cases over. It covers a spouse, an intimate partner, or a family member, and it treats strangulation or suffocation as its own charge that the government can bring even with no visible injury. A qualifying conviction also triggers the federal Lautenberg firearms bar, which can end a career because a member has to be able to carry a weapon. We also defend assault under Article 128, where self defense is a recognized defense.
False Official Statements and Fraud (UCMJ Articles 107 and 124). A security or administrative inquiry can turn adversarial fast, and a statement that does not match the record becomes a false official statement under Article 107, sometimes stacked with fraud against the United States under Article 124. The government still has to prove a knowing falsity and an intent to deceive, not just an inconsistency or an honest mistake, and that gap is where these cases are won.
Drugs (UCMJ Article 112a). Marijuana that is legal off base in California is still a federal controlled substance and a court martial offense under Article 112a. But a positive urinalysis is evidence the government may use to argue knowing, wrongful use, not an automatic finding of guilt, so the collection, the chain of custody, the lab work, and whether any use was knowing and wrongful all remain the government's to prove.
A Career and a Reputation Worth Defending
We do not pretend that every member who calls us from Vandenberg is innocent. What matters is how serious the case is, not your rank. If a matter is genuinely minor, the Area Defense Counsel can handle it, and we will tell you so honestly. But when the case is serious, everything is on the line at once: your career, your good name, and your freedom. A court martial conviction is a federal criminal conviction, and the applicable sentencing parameters tie a confinement range to the offense, two and a half to ten years for sexual assault and ten to twenty for rape, that a judge can depart from only by stating specific facts in writing, on top of any required or adjudged punitive discharge and, for a covered sex offense, sex offender registration. That is why you fight. The court’s jurisdiction and the convicted offense determine which sentencing rules apply; some offenses use separate sentencing criteria rather than these ranges.
If you are facing an investigation or court martial at Vandenberg Space Force Base, reach out for a free, confidential strategy session. We will tell you exactly what you are facing and how we would defend it. The government is already building its case. The only question is whether anyone is building yours.
FAQ
OSI wants to interview me at Vandenberg. Do I have to talk to them?
No. Under Article 31b of the UCMJ you have the right to remain silent and to a lawyer, and you can invoke both before the interview begins. OSI is gathering evidence, not offering a chance to explain, and a statement can drive both the criminal case and a security action against your career. Decline, ask for the Area Defense Counsel or your own lawyer, and say nothing until you have one.
My security clearance was suspended over an investigation. Can you get it back?
We defend the criminal allegation that is driving the suspension, because beating or shrinking that case is the strongest leverage there is on what the security office decides next. We do not litigate the clearance adjudication itself. The goal is to win the charge before it becomes the record that follows you.
I'm under an Article 120 investigation. Will I have to register as a sex offender if I'm convicted?
A court martial conviction for a covered Article 120 offense triggers registration duties under the applicable federal and state law, with requirements and duration determined by the covered conviction and jurisdiction. The entire defense is aimed at defeating the charge or reducing it to an offense that carries no registration, and the investigation and the charging decision are where these cases are most often turned. Get your own counsel involved before you ever sit down with OSI.